The 76th Hunger Games: A Matter of Life and Death
by IndecisiveDreamer
Summary: She was the Girl on Fire. She was destined to lead the rebellion. But then she died and all thoughts of a rebellion silenced. The third Quarter Quell came and passed with big success. And now it's finally time for the most anticipated TV event of the year, the 76th Hunger Games! *SYOT*
1. Chapter 1

Coriolanus Snow, President of Panem

Snow was content. The 75th Games had passed smoothly and the newest victor, Areen Thomas from district 9, was being picked up from the arena at this very moment. She was looking slightly crazed and her hands was still covered with the blood of the brother and sister pair from district 3. The Quarter Quell had been genius, sending in only sibling pairs, doubling the loss of the families and forcing family to murder each other. His favorite moment by far had been when the district 4 female stabbed her own brother, and immediately being killed by the district 1 siblings who then turned on each other and eventually both died of their wounds. He chuckled at the memory. The Games really did bring out the worst in people.

There was a knock on the door and in stepped Seneca Crane, the head gamemaker. Snow liked the man, he had a bright mind and his ideas never ceased to amaze him. Not that he'd ever admit it to the young man, who was already far too cocky.

"Yes?" The president asks and motions towards the chair on the other side of his desk and Crane sits down, crossing his legs.

"I just wanted to let you know that everything is in order. The Victor is being transported to the Capitol as we speak and should be ready for the crowning ceremony and interviews in just a couple of days."

"Great. And are we counting on any... Complications?" His memory was still fresh from the 71st Games, when the *lovely* miss Mason started yelling and cursing during her victory interview and the broadcast had been forced to be cut off. Her family had obviously been killed as punishment, but Snow would prefer to stay away from any more missteps like that one.

"No sir. Reports are she's been crying all the while since they picked him up. Screaming about her brother and such. She should be easy to get under control."

"Good." Snow says and looks to his own personal live feed of the hovercraft and very well there she is face tearstained and eyes broken. She looks weak, just the way he likes it. "How are the preparations going?"

"The interview is already scheduled, and Caesar is prepping. Dresses and interview with family is being fixed as we speak." Seneca tells him and Snow nods to show he's listening.

"And how about the next Games?"

"We've already come up with an idea for the arena, and I'll be by to brief it to you in a couple of days. I'm confident it will turn out good. We've found a perfect location and will be ready to start working at it, as soon as we're given your consent."

"Excellent Seneca. That will be all."

"Yes sir." Seneca gets up from his chair and with a final nod towards his president he heads out of the room, closing the door behind him with a small click.

It was a year left until the next games but this year had created high expectations for the coming Games and Snow would not let the gamemakers slack off and disappoint. The districts needed to be held under control. Last year there had been a close call, Katniss Everdeen also popularly called "the Girl on Fire" had vowed revenge on the Capitol on live TV after she found her pretended lover dead by the river. She had fought valiantly, he couldn't deny that, but in the end she never did have any chance against the brute from district 2. And Snow had been content. Once again they had managed to put out that little piece of hope instilled in the districts and proved that there simply was no way of beating the Capitol. The districts needed to be held under control. His reign depended on it.

He was the most powerful man in Panem and that was just the way he liked it. The Victors might be given crowns, houses and more money than they could ever spend, but their lives belonged to him until the day they died. What did they really win? Lifelong guilt and nightmares. Knowledge that they were murders. The chance to mentor new tributes every year only to watch them die. No they were never the real victors, he was. And he wasn't planning on that changing for a long time.

 **So that's that for the first chapter! To clearify Peeta died from his wounds before Katniss could find him and while trying to get revenge she was killed by Cato who then won the games. The victor's were never sent back into the arena and instead the Quarter Quell sent in 12 pairs of siblings. This will be a SYOT and you can find everything you need on my profile, and I'll only accept tributes through PM. I hope you will consider submitting and I'm excited to receive your tributes. This will be my first SYOT so I appreciate any feedback you can give me, positive and constructive. Also english isn't my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for reading and see you soon!**


	2. The Arena

Coriolanus Snow, President of Panem

It was 2 weeks left until the reaping of the 76th Hunger Games and that was all anyone cared about in the Capitol. People were desperately trying to get the last seats to the tribute parade and the pregames interviews so that they could brag to everyone they met that they had seen the tributes first hand. The only thing being broadcast was all about the Hunger Games. Reruns, the top 10 Hunger Games kills, star moments of every victor, old interviews, new interviews, experts trying to predict this year's games, gamemakers teasing this year's arena, you name it.

Even Snow was watching it, not because he was caught up in the mass hysteria, but because he liked to remember his own success. Right now the interviews of last year's victor, Areen Thomas was being shown. She did a remarkable job keeping herself together even as replay after replay of her brother's death in the bloodbath was shown. But he had seen this interview plenty of times so he switched channels. Some new Capitol reporter was making house calls to all the former victors. Snow laughed along with the recorded audience as a drunken Haymicth Abernathy slammed the door in her face. Other victors were politer, Finnick was charming as ever, Cashmere and Gloss were delightful, Cecelia showed off her kids who made the entire audience aww in unison and Beetee showed off his newest invention.

He switched channels again and found his granddaughters favorite show, a reality show where capitolites went to an old arena and competed in a mock Hunger Games. Obviously there was no deaths but there was plenty of drama between the contestants and apparently all the guys were considered very attractive, a combination that seemed to be a success among most teenage girls. He shook his head, this was nothing for him.

He turned it off, and told an avox to send for the head gamemaker. It was after all the president's responsibility to give the people what they wanted and that begun with making sure the preparations for the games went as planned. He had approved the arena a long time ago, but it was time to see the finished result. Minutes passed but Snow waited patiently, and eventually the door was pushed open and Seneca Crane stepped in with stride in his steps as he offered Snow a polite nod.

"President Snow. You called for me."

"Is the arena in order?"

"We're putting in the final touches, but we should be done before the end of the week."

"Let me see it."

Seneca pulls out a holo and places it on the desk. With three quick touches it opens up and reveals this year's arena, consisting of 4 parts. In the middle was the Cornucopia with all its supplies, positioned in a small circle of slippery mud. The pedestals where the tributes would enter however lay in a field of high grass, to make it harder for the tributes to see each other as they run towards the bloodbath.

After the bloodbath, the tributes had three choices. In one direction there was a pine forest. Snow knew from experience that tributes usually favored the forest and a lot of tributes would go there. But this forest was incredibly thick and dense, and just a few yards in it would be almost complete darkness making it incredibly hard to have any sense of direction. And there was no food and no water, only mutts in the trees.

Next was the mountain part, with sharp rocks, steep sides, treacherous falls and the occasional rock fall. It included several caves for cover, but they would have to watch out. Some of these caves were already inhabited by mutts. On top of the mountains was a glacier, which would help supply the tributes with fresh running water if they managed to find one of the streams running down the mountain. One of these streams grows bigger, until it becomes a river ending in a waterfall that splashes down in the final part of the arena.

This was the ocean bit, a mass of salt water with a number of small islands on it. There was 2 rowing boats on the beach behind the Cornucopia to help the tributes get out. In this part the tributes should have no problem keeping well fed and hydrated, there was fish to catch and coconuts to drink from. But although the islands may have seemed like an unexpected paradise the place was crawling with mutts, both on the island and in the water, essentially making it a deathtrap for any tribute who made it out there.

"All the parts are finished, and the cameras has all been installed. We're only positioning the last mutts and then it will be ready." Seneca explains as Snow carefully observes every inch of the arena.

"I like it, you've done a good job Seneca."

"Thank you sir."

"And there will be no disappointments?" Snow says, looking up and raising his eyebrows at the gamemaker who remains unfazed.

"No disappointments. It will be perfect." Seneca answers confidently and Snow nods slowly in approval.

"Well let us hope so. I do not tolerate failures, you know that."

"I know."

"Good, because I like you Seneca. Now leave, enough time has been wasted. We have got a game to prepare."

 **So that's the first look on the arena, I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who has submitted a tribute, I love them all. If you're new to this story and want to submit there are still spots open so just visit my profile and send me a form through my PM :) Next chapter will hopefully be the district 1 reaping, so see you then!**


	3. D12 Reaping

**Well this is clearly not the district 1 reaping as I said it would be, but I started working on this chapter before I got both tributes from district 1 and when I was finished I though I might as well post it. I hope you don't mind and I hope you'll enjoy!**

* * *

Juniper "June" Medulli 17, District 12 Female

June was walking back home, a smirk playing on her lips. Headpeacekeeper Cray was the dumbest person she had ever met, she couldn't believe how easy he was too fool. He had found her going through his office looking for anything of worth, and she had thought that she was done for. But a quick lie about being a lost member of the Capitol camera crew along with some very convincing crying saw him quickly shove her out of his room, wanting to get the awkward scene go away as quickly as possible.

She still couldn't believe she had gotten away with it, it had been incredibly risky. But at the end of the day you don't become the top thief of district 12 by playing it safe. No risk, no reward as they say. And it sure had been a good reward, her pockets were currently filled with more money than her aunt would make in a week. At the thought of her aunt she frowns slightly, ever since her parents died in a mining accident she and her brother had been forced to move in with their aunt Amapola. Amapola didn't particulary like them and the feeling was mutual, but to survive they were stuck with each other.

Before arriving home she made a quick stop at the candy shop. It was expensive but the smile on her brother Nidus' face made it all worth it.

"Thanks June, you're the best!" he exclaims as she hands him the caramels which seemed to be in a million different colors.

"Tell me something I don't already know." She jokes and then grabs one of the caramels from his hand and puts in her mouth before he even has time to react. Disapproving he gives her a suspicious look as he makes sure to protect the remaining caramels carefully.

"Juniper is that you?" Juniper and Nidus roll their eyes simultaneously at the high and pitchy voice of their aunt. "I said I wanted you back half an hour ago. Where have you been?"

"Out."

"The reaping is today."

"Oh really." She says her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I had no idea. Don't know how I could've missed it."

Nidus giggles but Ampola just looks even more upset.

"Drop the attitude young lady, you are setting a bad example for your brother. And Nidus give me those caramels, you know they're bad for your teeth."

"But aunt…"

"No buts, just hand them to me now." Ampola says grabbing his arm.

"Leave him alone!" June yells but Ampola just takes an even firmer grip around Nidus arm, completely ignoring June's protests. Nidus tries to get away from his aunt but she digs her nails into his arm causing him to wince from pain and June feels herself fill up with rage.

"Get off of him!" she cries and pushes her aunt hard. The act catches Ampola by surprise and she lets go off Nidus' arm and stumbles back a few step before losing her balance completely and crashing straight into the hard wall.

Both June and Ampola starts to curse loudly but as the latter tries to get back on her feet the former is already out of the house, followed by her brother and fuming with anger.

"I hate her I hate her I hate her." She rants and Nidus looks at her worriedly.

"No you don't. You're just mad. She doesn't mean anything bad, she does her best to take care of us." Nidus says, always being the calm and sensible one.

"She hurt you!"

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing. Please just calm down." He says softly

"Fine, but I still hate her."

He smirks. "Come on lets go to the reaping. Maybe that'll cheer you up."

"You're right. Nothing better than the chance of being sent away to your definite grave."

"That's the spirit."

So they start walking towards the center of the city, even though it's a long time left until the reaping actually begins. June notices that she's still wearing her mother's old and worn dress, she simply didn't have the chance to change it before the fight. And there was no way she'd go back there now. A confrontation was inevitable and she would be punished, but she rather not deal with that right now.

The square is slowly but surely filling up with people and she bids goodbye to her brother for now and gets in line. He's still too young to get reaped. The peacekeeper pricking her finger seems to hate his job and sighs tiredly as she decides to make his life just a little bit harder by *accidently* getting blood on his snow white uniform.

She gets in place with the rest of the girls her age and soon enough the reaping begins. The mayor is holding the same speech as always, Effie greets them in the same way as always and the movie shown about the Dark Days is the exact same as always. Then the real action begins as Effie exclaims those two fateful words.

"Ladies first!"

She walks over to one of the big bowls and picks a name, right from the top. As she walks back to the microphone and unfolds the slip of paper the entire district hold a collective breath. She clears her throat, opens her mouth and says the name of the lucky girl.

"Juniper Medulli!"

Oh shit. She clenches her jaw and looks down at her feet, mainly to try and contain herself from starting to curse the Capitol, the Games and the entire Panem out loud in front of the live cameras. Some thoughts are better kept private. After a quick moment to gather herself she then lifts her head and starts walking the short distance to the stage, confidence in her steps and a tough look on her face. She might have been scared, but she wasn't about to let it show.

* * *

Felix Finch 12, District 12 Male

"Is the bread alright Felix, not to hot? I bought it this morning from the Mellarks, that poor family." Felix' mother asks him. She always became very fussy when she was worried.

"Yes mom." Felix answers and kicks his sister Prine under the table and she gives him a hurt look.

"The reaping starts in an hour, are you ready?"

"Yes mom." Felix answers as Prine kicks him back and he grins devilishly at her.

"Did the shirt I put out for you fit okay? It used to be your brother's."

"Yes mom." Felix answers and kicks Prine again and her eyes go dark.

"Good good." His mother says absentmindedly. "We don't want to be late, you'll want a good spot for your first reaping."

"Yes mom." Felix answers and Prine retaliates and kicks him back, harder this time. Felix grits his teeth in pain.

"And don't worry sweetheart, everything will be just fine."

"Yes mom." Felix answers and kicks Prine once again, mustering all the force he can.

"Oww!" She cries and Felix rolls his eyes at her dramatics. "Mom! Felix kicked me!"

"Felix! Be nice." His mother says in a warning tone.

"Yes mom." Felix answers but when she turns her back to them he makes an ugly face at his sister who frowns and sticks her tongue out at him.

Suddenly his brother Castron walks into the small kitchen with a cheery look on his face and ruffles his brother hair before taking a seat next to him.

"Hello family. Lovely day don't you say?"

"It's reaping day." Prine states, looking at her brother like he's gone insane.

"But the birds are singing and the sun is shining. You have got to appreciate the small things little sister, especially on days like this."

"Easy for you to say." Felix chimes in. "You're not the one risking being reaped."

"Well she doesn't either. She's 10."

"Then feel sorry for me, I could get reaped. I could die."

"No one is going to die!" Their mother says unexpectedly from where she stood at the sink, dropping the pan she was washing and making them all jolt with surprise in their seats. "No one is going to die." She says again, calmer this time but still not looking at them.

The kids sit in silence for a few seconds, just staring at each other, tension thick in the room.

"Mom where's dad and Mirren?" Felix asks, to try and lighten the mood and get her mind of the whole death theme.

"They're out for a walk. Mirren had a nightmare again."

And with those words things got even more awkward. Mirren had always been a sensitive girl, but last year she broke completely. Her best friend and her twin brother was reaped for the Quarter Quell and died in the bloodbath. Ever since she had suffered from night terrors. They all go quiet again, the only thing being heard is their mother's frantic cleaning of the pan that should be more than clean by now.

"Well..." Castron starts and the silence is broken for a second time. "I should probably get these 2 to the reaping. I'll see you there mom."

Felix and Prine are quick to get up from their seats, eager for an excuse to get out of there.

"I'll see you after the reaping mom, I love you." Felix says quickly but receives no answer. He pays no thought to it though, she's just worried. She'll feel better tonight.

The walk from the Seam to the town square feels shorter than usual, possibly because Felix was too busy bickering with his sister to pay attention to anything else. He won the argument like usual. More because of the sheer number of words per minute he spoke rather than the quality of his arguments. People tended to eventually just give up when they were met by his nonstop talking. Who ever said that quality was better than quantity?

As they arrive he gives his older brother a reluctant hug and gives his sister a slap on the back of the head before getting in line. He grins at the peacekeeper who just gives him an empty glare and pricks his finger. Quickly locating his friends he joins them right by the edge of the stage, and they are immediately deeply invested in the planning of their annual frog finding competition.

However their conversation is cut short as mayor Undersee walks out on stage. Felix doesn't really listen though, concentrating was never his greatest talent. He grows more restless by every second and his mind starts to drift further and further away, and he hardly even notices as their escort Effie takes the stage.

Then out of nowhere he hears someone call his name and he is brought back to reality and looks for the source of the voice, furrowing his eyebrows. Even he knows you're not supposed to talk during the reaping, his mother made sure to tell him that repeatedly. That's when he notices his friends staring at him with horror and when he sees his own face on the big screen realization hits him.

His face turns pale, his eyes go wide and his body is paralyzed. He can't move an inch so he just stands there, his entire body starting to shake like crazy. Eventually a peacekeeper starts shoving him against the stage and somehow he manages to stumble up the stairs without falling flat on his face.

When he's up there he can't do anything but stare. First at Effie who is smiling at him encouragingly, then at his mentor Haymitch who has a bitter frown on his face and lastly on his district partner who he didn't even notice being called up before. She seems familiar, he's sure he's seen her around before but he can't remember who she is. The rest of the ceremony is over in a blur and before he knows it he finds himself alone in a fancy room.

* * *

Juniper "June" Medulli 17, District 12 Female

The boy standing in front of her looked like he was going to pass out at any second. One part of her couldn't help but feel sorry for him but the other part was happy because she knew he wouldn't pose any kind of threat against her. Because in the end the only thing that mattered was getting back home.

Effie tells the audience to give their tributes a warm round of applause but no one makes a sound and June has to try her best not to roll her eyes at the naïve escort who looks rather disappointed by their lack of enthusiasm. Maybe it would help if only someone cared to explain why sending 2 kids to their death clearly should be the most fantastic thing in the world.

Soon after the reaping is over and both she and her district partner are led into the justice building. Some peacekeepers try to hold onto her but she angrily shrugs them off and walks with her back straight and her head held high, and she gives the peacekeeper dropping her off in her room a dark glare that makes him shift nervously.

Her face was still hard and stern as Nidus ran into the room and threw himself in her arms. At that she felt her whole body relaxing as she wrapped her arms around him. He was her everything, he was the most amazing brother one could ask for and she loved him more than anything.

"You have got to win!" He urges her as they break apart.

"I will." June answers and she meant it. Her mind had already been made up, she was going to win the Games to get back to her brother. And nothing would stand in her way.

"Just don't do anything stupid." He says looking worried. "Stay calm and don't let the other tributes get you worked up. Just stay out of everybody's way and hit them when they least expect it. You're smart and stealthy, I know you could do it."

"I will get back, I promise. You know I never lie." She says and he raises his eyebrows skeptically.

"You always lie." He says and she grins and shrugs carelessly.

"Whatever, you're missing the point."

"Time's up. Get out." A peacekeeper opens the door and Nidus gives her one last hug.

"I love you June."

"I love you too."

Then the door closes and she is all alone.

* * *

Felix Finch 12, District 12 Male

He quickly gets up on his feet as his family rushes through the door. Mirren is crying and gives him a quick hug before turning to Castron, crying into his chest. Castron's eyes are filled with shock and grief as he pats Felix on the back. Prine doesn't say a word, just gives him a tight hug, before she too starts crying into Castron. Felix is then faced with his father whose eyes are filled with tears and he gives his son a long embrace.

"I love you son. No matter what happens I will always be proud of you."

"I love you too dad." Felix says, his voice trembling.

"Just try to get back somehow. Do anything you can." Castron adds and Felix has never heard his voice sound so small before.

Felix just nods at him before turning towards his mother who is standing with her back against him, staring intently at the wall.

"Mom?" He says hesitantly his voice breaking from the lump in his throat but she still doesn't look at him. "Mom I'm scared... I think I'm going to die."

"No one is going to die." She says in a hauntingly calm voice only causing his panic to grow further. He needs his mom right now, more than ever. He needs her to hold him and comfort him. But she won't even look at him. Tears start rolling down his cheeks as he desperately pleads with her.

"Mom please! I don't want to go, do something!"

At this she finally turns around, but her eyes are distant and she still refuses to actually look at him. Felix doesn't care though and just falls into her arms, feeling her warmth and smelling her scent. This is probably going to be the last time he ever sees her and he doesn't want to ever let go.

A peacekeeper walks in telling them time is over. He has to pry a crying and screaming Felix off of his mother, but still she expresses nothing. She just stands there stiffly with dazed eyes and in the next moment they're all gone. Forever. He tries to wipe away the tears but they just keep on streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. Suddenly he feels his legs go weak, his eyes blurry and then everything goes black.

 **Well that's that for the first reaping. First time I ever wrote one, so I wasn't quite sure how to go at it but I hope it turned out okay. Also tell me if you thought it was too long and I'll shorten it down in the future. I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot to me. Also the district 11 male spot is still open, and a few of you still have reserved spots. I'd really appreciate if you tried to get them in as quickly as possible :) I received two questions in the reviews and I thought it might be best to answer them here so everyone interested could read. There won't be any sponsor system with points, however as we get to the arena I will accept sponsor requests for a character through my PM and then I'll simply decide if I want to go with it (depending on what I would view as realistic for said character). And about the death order I am leaning towards drawing slips of names to determine who will die next. In such a system however careers would probably have fewer slips because they've been preparing for years and realistacally they have much higher odds at surviving. But of course it'll be anyone's game! Bye for now :)**


	4. D1 Reaping

**Jasper Onyx 18, District 1 Male**

After Jasper had been chosen as the district 1 tribute for the 76th Hunger Games the academy had seen it fit to relieve him from training and let him go back home the last days before the reaping, as a kind of reward. Not that Jasper found it particularly rewarding. He didn't want to be here and he doubted his parents wanted him here either. After all they had been the ones to send him away to the academy's boarding home in the first place to 'make him a better man', whatever that meant.

But none of that would matter any more after he had won the Hunger Games. He could go live in the Victor's Village and finally decide over his own life. No more nagging or liabilities, he would be free to do whatever he wanted. And he smirked at the thought that he would be the one to decide whether or not he'd allow his parents to ever visit him again. He still hadn't decided what to do about them, he really didn't care about it at the moment anyway. But he liked knowing that from now on he would always be the one in charge, the one with 100% control. Just the way he liked it.

"Jasper I told you 10 minutes ago, breakfast is ready! What is taking so long?" He heard his mother yell from downstairs and he rolled his eyes, would the woman just let him be for once in his life.

"I'm coming! I just need to get dressed." He answered in a bored tone, no real intention to actually get up. If she wanted him to eat, then she should bring breakfast to him. Wasn't that kind of her job as his mother anyway? He shouldn't have to run around doing things for her.

His plan worked. 10 minutes later she knocked on his door with a full plate of breakfast in her hands. He didn't bother to thank her as she started ranting about him not living up to his full potential and he grew increasingly annoyed.

"Mother, would you be quiet. I'm trying to eat. I have to be ready to volunteer today, so if you could just leave me alone that'd be great." He finally snapped at her and she gave him a sour look and walked out. He took this as his cue and leaned back into his bed, enjoying breakfast. His mother was stressed over nothing, he'd probably make it to the reaping in time.

* * *

 **Larkin Calabria 18, District 1 Female**

"Goodmorning mr Stanley" Larkin chirped happily at the elder Victor who waved at her happily, his mouth opening in a toothless grin. Gold Stanley was the victor of the 2nd Hunger Games and although he was over 90 years old he still came out every morning to tend to the flowers in his front yard, the flowers Larkin herself helped plant years ago.

She had always liked it better in the Victor's Village than in the actual district. Maybe it was because it was her home and she had grown up here, or maybe it was because here everyone had their priorities straight. Here what mattered was how strong you were and how well you could fight, whereas in the district far to many people were distracted by pretty dresses and making sure their makeup and hair was just right. But not Larkin, she was born to become a victor, it was in her DNA.

And today the day she had trained for had finally arrived. She knew no one in the Games could match her skills with a knife. And having a victor as a father and a trainer as a mother came with its perks, they had prepared her for anything that might come her way. She was genuinely excited for the Games which caused her to smile even brighter than usual, a fact that didn't go unnoticed as she met up with her two best friends, Justus Greene and Morgan Atlee.

"Well somebody's happy today." Justus said and greeted her with a hug.

"Obviously." She said eagerly with a laugh. "I just can't believe it's finally reaping day, I mean I'm finally going to the Games."

"You don't have to rub it in my face.." Justus winced and Larkin offered him a compassionate smile, he had trained for the Games for years and was the 3rd best male candidate this year. It was good, but not quite good enough, and although he was happy for Larkin he still hadn't quite gotten over the disappointment.

"Why do I get the feeling your Games will end up just like your fathers, with all the careers sitting around a campfire singing Cumbauya." Morgan joked and Larkin laughed. It was true, her father's year had featured the friendliest bunch of careers in the history of the Games, but this year wouldn't be anything like that.

"Don't you worry, singing has never been my thing. I'll stick to winning." Larkin grinned.

"That's my girl." Justus said and dunked her on the back, as the 3 friends headed into the town center, talking and joking all the way.

* * *

 **Jasper Onyx 18, District 1 Male**

Jasper strutted into the town square casually. The peacekeeper frowned at his last minute arrival but Jasper didn't care. Because this was it. It was finally time. He found a spot at the very edge of the 18 year old section, the ideal position for him to volunteer from. The cameras would be able to find him quickly and he had a straight path down to the stage. He noticed that most people around him stood in groups, chatting with friends. But not him. He stood alone. He didn't have any friends. Correction; he didn't need any friends. Not that he hated people, absolutely not. But most of them were useless and he could honestly not care less about anyone else.

All he wanted was for the reaping to begin. Or more importantly; the Hunger Games to begin. Then people would drop like flies by his hand, and he'd return to district 1 praised by all of Panem. At least the parts of Panem where people had half a brain. Though unfortunately most places probably fell short of that criteria. None the less this day would be one for the history books.

Soon enough the district 1 escort, Leea Summerbell, with sparkling skin and hair (all in honour of district 1 of course) walked on stage with a bright smile, showing off all of her glistering white teeth.

"Welcome district 1 to the reaping of the 76th annual Hunger Games! I hope you are as excited as I am!" A roar went through the crowd and Leea's smile grew wider, it was no secret the escorts in the career districts were a lot more appreciated than in the outer ones. "Well lets get started then, shall we?"

* * *

 **Larkin Calabria 18, District 1 Female**

The reaping had begun and Larkin stood among a bunch of friends from school and the training academy. They had all greeted her with gushing and hugs as she had arrived, and had made sure to let her know just how much they believed in her and how happy they were that she was the one chosen to go. She had thanked them all happily and promised to invite them to her victory party when she got back at which they all shrieked excitedly.

"Lets get started then, shall we?" Leea Summerbell's voice rang from up stage and Larkin's mind filled with determination as she made herself ready. "Lets pick the lovely lady first!"

Leea elegantly made her way to the first of the 2 bowls and dramatically chose one of the slips.

"Tiara Annton!" As soon as the name had left Leea's lips Larkin was in the isle separating the boys from the girls.

"I volunteer!" She yelled with her clear and bright voice and strode up to the stage, making sure to smile at every camera she could find. She saw herself on the big screen and was content when she saw her sparkling eyes and dazzling smile. She knew she'd make a good first impression.

"Welcome, welcome dear." Leea said as Larkin came up on stage. "And now to the gallant gentlemen!"

Once again the escort picked and called out a name. And once again a confident "I volunteer!" sounded in the town square. Larkin observed as Jasper Onyx walked up on stage. She knew him from the training center, though she had never really talked to him, he mostly kept to himself. He didn't really look like the most impressive career, he looked younger than his 18 years and wasn't the biggest but Larkin knew he was lethal. They shook hands and with that the reaping was over.

* * *

 **Jasper Onyx 18, District 1 Male**

"Good job son." Jasper's father told him with a pat on the back as they said goodbye. "You'll win this."

"Yeah I know." Jasper said impatiently and with a nonchalant shrug. He really didn't see the point in his parents being here, the only thing they did was take away time from his preparations.

"Just don't be stupid. Be the man I know you can be." His mother gave him a hug, but he didn't return the favor and just stood there with his mother's arms around him and he grew more annoyed.

"Sure mother." He said rather harshly, relieved when his mother pulled back.

"See you soon." His parents said and started heading for the door.

"Bye." Jasper answered without even giving them another glance.

They were out of the room and Jasper was finally left alone to plan out his road to victory. Only by thinking of it his smirk grew wide.

* * *

 **Larkin Calabria 18, District 1 Female**

"Amazing job darling! We are so proud of you!" Larkin's parents were the first one to enter the room.

"Thanks mom, thanks dad." She smiled at them and gave them both hugs. "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"Love you too sweetheart." Another hug and then they were out, there were no need for goodbyes she'd be home soon enough anyway.

Next up were Justus and Morgan who both congratulated her and urged her to kick some ass in the arena. They joked some more and hugged before they too left the room. Larkin was then visited by a whole row of friends, and not before long her hour was over. But before the peacekeepers came to get her she found a piece of paper in her pocket. Someone must have put it there during visitation. She picked it up and read it and immediately her enthusiasm turned to fury. Before she could stop herself she hit the wall so hard her knuckles started to bleed and she crinkled the note in her hand and threw it across the room but the words wouldn't leave her brain.

'You won't stand a chance, you're so dead.'

 **So that's district 1 for you. What do you think about the tributes? I also want to apologize for the late update, I've just been incredibly busy lately. Hopefully the next chapter will come quicker, I promise I'll do my best to make that happen.**


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